We just came back from our Mediterranean Cruise. We sailed on September 6th on the Gem. I will separate the review into two sections, the ship experience and the ports. First the ship experience. It is a fairly new ship with a small atrium and chopped up little public areas. We thought we had booked a date after children had gone back to school but in Europe children go back to school the 3rd week of September so the cruise was filled with families with children. This made getting any where near the pool impossible. NCL has a policy against saving chairs around the pool but they don't enforce it so the entire trip I was never able to get a seat near the pool. I had to spend the money to get a spa pass so i could use the hydro theray pool in the spa. it was a nice quiet space that didn't allow children and had plenty of seating. the spa pass cost $99 for the entire cruise or $169 for a couple. I resent spending this money just so i could have a quiet space but it was necessary. the hydro pool was wonderful after a long day of sightseeing in the ports. NCL advertises freestyle cruising but it comes at a cost. You have to pay an upcharge at most of the restaurants and then on top of that they charge extra for some of the best dishes in those restaurants. On this cruise we tried La Cucina on the first night. The service was a mess and the food was ok. On the last night we went to Cagneys and the service was much better and the food was very good. This is the most expensive restaurant on the ship but worth the up charge. My only quibble with Cagneys is the seating. The chairs are the most uncomfortable chairs for extended dinning. When you first sit down you will notice most of the diners are sitting forward on their chairs. after a while you will know why. (yes I know that it is a small thing but did anyone from NCL sit on those chairs before they purchased them?). The main dinning room, Grand Pacific was very nice but it was often crowded at later times in the evening. They have a beeper system so you can wander around the ship while you wait. The only problem is that most people wait around the entrance to the restaurant and spill over into the bars around both dinning rooms making the whole area impassable. Magenta is the smaller dinning room and it seemed to be overly popular and often had crowds even though it served the same food as the main dinning room. The buffet area is too small for a ship this size. There are too many people trying to eat in this small space that they have packed with way too many tables so it is next to impossible to squeeze through the space. They really need double the space. The one great find is the Blue Lagoon. It is the 24 hour restaurant on the ship and it usually wasn't crowded and it had great fish and chips (and mushy peas).

Our stateroom was a mini suite with a balcony. The room was compact with too much furniture ( a recurring theme on this ship) so it was hard to walk around. the closet space was good but the one of the beds was in front of the doors so it was hard to get in and out of the closet. the bathroom was nice and spacious. The balcony was nice but it could have used a couple of lounge chairs so we could utilise it mor. It only had 2 small chairs so it was not conducive for laying there and reading a book. overall though the room was fairly nice.

Embarkation and disembarkation were easy and efficient. The lines moved quickly but beware that they do let you on the ship before 2:00pm but the rooms aren't ready until then so if you carry your luggage on you will have to lug it around with you. Of course everyone congregates in the buffet area so it is a madhouse. Read more